The first mobile phone call occurred exactly 50 years ago today. It seems like we’ve had phones for a long time, and technological advancements are becoming more common, innovative and quick. However, when you think about it, mobile phones haven’t been around for that long… Let’s take a look at the history of phones, from the telephone up until now, where we have smartphones.
The Invention of the Telephone
The first telephone was invented on 7th March 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, one of the most recognised and greatest inventors ever. At the age of 29, his revolutionary new invention, the telephone, would change the world and communication forever. Bell is credited with the invention of the first telephone and the first telephone call too, which turned out to actually be accidental. On March 10th 1876, while initially testing the new device, Bell spilled some acid on his leg and called out for his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, to come and help him. The first words spoken through the telephone were in Bell’s Boston Laboratory by Graham Bell. They were, “Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.”
The telephone was an important invention, which progressed and changed as time went on. It was a practical and useful device, then used mainly by wealthy people. So, the telephone was invented in 1876. By 1877, construction of the first regular telephone line between Boston and Sommerville, Massachusetts had been completed. Telephone line construction exploded with growth over the next few years, and by 1880, there were already 47,900 phones across America. By the 1930s it was a common device found in wealthier homes, with calls going as far to other cities.
The First Mobile Phone
A little over a century after the first telephone was invented, Martin Cooper, the engineer from Motorola, developed the first hand-held phone. On April 3rd 1973, Cooper took an early model of Motorola’s DynaTAC phone to the streets of New York. The brick phone weighed 2.5lbs (around 1.1kg), was 9 inches (23cm) tall and allowed 35 minutes of talk time, before it ran out of battery. The battery would take 10 hours to charge! Motorola launched the DynaTAC in 1984, after receiving approval from the US FCC in 1983. The cost of the phone in 1984 cost around $4000 (equivalent to around $11,500 or £9,300 in 2023). The phone was huge compared to todays phones. As we all know, phones have gotten smaller since then, easier and lighter to hold and have a much longer battery life, therefore offering a longer talk time.
Smartphones and phones today
Today, we have many companies around the world that produce and innovate phones and devices continually. Calling today is usually cheap, easy and constantly evolving, with video mobile phone calls being introduced in better, higher quality resolution (though video calls already occurred through picturephones in the 1970s, and mobile phone video calls in 1999. However, today it’s much easier to video call someone. With apps like Whattsapp, FaceTime and other programmes and social media introduced to us, it’s easier than ever before!
Phones today are pretty much slick, quick, modern and smaller than before screens that no longer only make phone calls and send texts. Today, smartphones offer the opportunity to store files, photos, surf the internet and play games. It’s something that 50 years ago, nobody probably expected to happen. From simple calls, going only as far as neighbouring cities, to the first mobile phone, where you could phone from practically anywhere, to modern smartphones, where you can do almost anything, phones have come very far. So, today the majority of people have phones, which are now an integrated part of our lives. They’re so important and essential that without them, not only communication between people would be difficult, but also jobs, education and other things and systems would suffer.
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